Social media

Help! The public sphere is being flooded with TV screens that are drowning out everything else. They show up everywhere, obtrusive and unavoidable.

They demand attention; trying to block them out and do something else can be mentally exhausting. Whether they are large or small, whether they broadcast a public station or a closed circuit network, their continuous distraction of moving images and background noise discourages people from interacting, reading, writing, or just sitting quietly and thinking. I really dislike it. Skip the life preserver and someone please throw me a remote!Continue reading →

Facebook is the new medium for chain letters. You remember the old chain letters, don’t you? You sent something (a dollar, a recipe, a prayer) to the last person on the list, added your name to the top of the list, and then sent copies of the letter to three other people. These always came with a promise and a threat. If no one broke the chain everyone would reap great rewards, but whoever broke the chain would get untold bad luck. Detailed examples were provided for both. I never played along. I either tried to graciously return the letter to whoever gave it to me or just threw it out as an annoyance. And now, I received the Facebook Gratitude Chain Letter!Continue reading →